A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card On Apple Wallet Transaction Limit…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers don’t really want or require
include charges, limitations or costs to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card On Apple Wallet Transaction Limit
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank immediately validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the additional step. But that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Vital Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card On Apple Wallet Transaction Limit